Box Score KATY, Texas  -- Three straight scores from McNeese freshman Allison Baggett gave the Cowgirls a double-digit lead that the Northwestern State women's basketball team could not overcome in a 63-45 loss at the 2013 Southland Conference Tournament to end the season for the Lady Demons.
 
Baggett hit a 3-pointer for the Cowgirls (17-13) at the 9:42 mark and followed that with a jumper a minute later to make it 47-36 before NSU's  (12-18) Keisha Lee knocked down a 3-pointer to make it cut the lead to eight.
 
Baggett answered with a 3-pointer of her own to give the Cowgirls a 50-39 lead with a 7:51 to play in the game.  NSU would only cut the lead to single-digits once for the remainder of the game.
 
“I've said all along that they are two-time defending champs until somebody knocks them off, and we weren't able to do that today,” said co-head coach Brooke Stoehr.
 
“Basketball is a game of runs, and the team that is able to extend the runs for longer periods of times usually wins the game,” she said.  “I felt like we answered the run beautifully in the first half, but Allison Baggett came out in the second half and hit three 3-pointers and went six-of-six from the field for the game.”
 
Allison scored 15 points for the game and tied her sister, Ashlyn, for the team-lead in scores.  Caitlyn Baggett had 14. 
 
“They've got two veteran, senior leaders (Ashlyn and Caitlyn) in the back court, and I felt like they came and attacked,” said Stoehr. “They had 15 and 14 points today. We just didn't do a good enough job defensively at times.
 
“That's what happens when you have veteran players. They make big plays in big games, and you have to credit them because they did a really nice job of that,” she said.
 
Southland newcomer of the year Okoye Ceilia scored nine points for MSU and had nine boards.
 
Lee led all scorers with 19 points and Jasmine Bradley had 11 for the game.
 
The Cowgirls shot 47.9 percent in the contest, and 35 percent from behind the arc. The Lady Demons were 39.2 percent from the field, and 23 percent from the 3-point line.
 
“We struggled to score at times, and just got out of our rhythm offensively,” said Stoehr.
 
McNeese State outrebounded Northwestern State 29-28, and the Lady Demons had 16 turnovers to the Cowgirls' 12.
 
NSU only shot two free throws on the game, but made both of them.   McNeese had six team fouls with 13:24 to play in the second half, but never fouled again in the matchup.
 
“We don't normally get to the free throw line just a ton, but we normally get there more than just two times,” said Stoehr.  “On our part, we just needed to attack more and have an aggressive mentality, and we didn't do that.”
 
It was the final game for NSU's lone senior Jasmine Upchurch.  She finished the game with eight points after being held scoreless in the first half.  She finished her career with 853 points and 505 rebounds.
 
The Lady Demons have five freshmen, including freshman of the year Janelle Perez, and two sophomores on the 2012-13 team.  They will return Meredith Graf, Ebony Ford, and Trudy Armstead who redshirted this season.
 
“When you get picked tenth to start the year, there aren't any expectations, but we did expect was the young ladies to come every day, compete their tails off, and get better,” said Stoehr emotionally. “There aren't a lot of teams that are still getting better in late February and March, and I feel like this team did, and that's a lot that we can build on.”
 
The Lady Demons won twice as many games as they did a season ago, and three times as many conference games.
 
“To experience this (SLC Tournament), double the win total, and triple the conference win total; that only gives us momentum,” said Stoehr. “It gives them a little taste of what this tournament's about, and what success is about.
 
“I think the returners, and the three at the end of the bench (Graf, Ford, and Armstead) got to taste that, and now that they've experienced that success I think that will drive them in the offseason,” she said.
 
The men's basketball team will play in the semifinal game on Friday at 7:30 in the 2013 Southland Conference Tournament.